  We cling to life for fear that we, When life is gone should cease to be. When the shadows flee away, God give thee rest ’til break of day. Without a pencil or a pen, I trace the hours of light for men. He only can be called a friend, Who keeps the same unto the end. The greatest maxim I can give, Is make the most of hours you live. I fear for thee, lest all hours given, Pave not a road that leads to Heaven. O blame not time if thou art poor, For who knows what it holds in store. Fresh hours and troubles never greet, Ere you have spent these moments sweet. Second by second each hour is paid, And little by little fortunes are made. Life is a wind, a shadow, and dust, Man is a mortal and perish he must. Two forces man may not deride, The flight of time and strength of tide. First recognize that life is short. Then live each day as all men ought. God through the senses gives to all, Proofs of time’s flight men may recall. None so blind as those who will not see, Remember this when next you look at me. Hours there are most men would recall, But few of us ask the return of them all. O never fear an hour of loss, That takes its shadow from the cross. A journey like me you soon must go. Live, O live, to all I cry, Live, remembering ye must die. Just like the clouds I too drift by, Formed and reformed incessantly. Mortal, ever strive to learn, Thou art from dust, and must return. Through the hours of life men should, Learn to take bad with the good. Since life’s as short as all men say, Mortal, do not waste a day. Early to bed and early to rise, Sees the sun set and lighten the skies. A good-bye never, mortals, say, Since we must meet another day. Ere thy sunny hours do cease, Patience learn and be at peace. Remember whilst you have your prime, To get good value for your time. Note ye blessings that I bring, Ere these fleeting hours take wing. Since no man e’er can live for naught, See that you live e’en as you ought. Hour by hour I yearly strive, To show to men this dial’s alive. If life’s chances you ignore, Blame but yourself when you are poor. O haste before the end of day Impedes your work or stops your play. O happy land rejoice and sing, God bless the day, long live the King. When asked the same question again and again. Our life’s a bubble, hold it who can, For it goes with the wind, like the breath of man. Troubles, what are they? Clouds that must come, Blessings disguised, experience the sum. O strive each man like new mown hay, To hold those gifts that pass away. I live in the present, a past I recall, But my future depends on the strength of this wall. Haste, O haste, for ’twill soon be to-morrow, And hours that we waste bring days of sorrow. Good fortune, like these hours, will soon be past, So make the most of such while it doth last. He who made the sun, made too the shade, Let not life’s shadows anyone hide Him who made. Since He who gives can also take away, Let every man who lives go watch and pray. Within the sight of all I hourly stand, To praise, reproach, and teach throughout the land. Go, take your time is truly said, For we when gone are a long while dead. Let thy thoughts now dwell on the present you see, Not a past or a future continually. Year in, year out, silent the hours of day I tell, Nor vex like noisy clock or loudly chiming bell. Hours misspent I’d liken to weeds, With minutes for roots and seconds for seeds. He who starts each day with doubts or fears, Seldom smiles and is full of tears. A circle, a gnomon, a shadow, a look, Are worth more to men than the leaves of a book. The value of their love and speech. Frail mortal, tell me, who hath power To stop ye tide or check ye hour? He is thrice wise, and he thrice blessed, Who portions out work, play, and rest. Though clouds may dull both hour and day, Love like the sun endures for aye. Time tests our friends and soon doth show Which is the friend and which the foe. Death can never lose its sting, Whilst we fear time on the wing. I live an example to man and youth, Of patient consistence, brightness, and truth. He who waits for something to turn up, Fills not the platter nor yet the cup. The sun, the source of heat and light, Gives flowers their scent and colour bright. They the thread of life entangle, Who guilty are of endless wrangle. What’s the time? Come, why do you ask? Is it to start or end your task? The thread of life, though thick and strong, Fates shall sever for thee ere long. Who goes early to bed and early to rise, Needs naught but the sun to lighten the skies. Go, live and let live while you’ve power, For life is but a thing of hour. What we sow in time we reap in Eternity, Seek help then Divine, Christian fraternity. No man may ever my hours deride, Who has lost by such, train, horse, or tide.
So hazard no guess for men to refute it.
sed away. My hours used well are going to be, Thy passport through eternity. Learn, like me, to give and take, In silence and no noise to make. Ye watch this dial my speed to prove, Yet cannot see me make a move. Things come in cycles, so men say, But who shall view a yesterday? My use and value unto you, Is gauged by what you have to do. I regulate the lives of all, That walk, or run, or fly, or crawl. He the longest life shall live, Who makes the most of hours I give. The shades of night my dial enfold, Like a story that is told. Earn thou thy rest, So shall each hour improved by thee, Bring what is best continually. |
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